While Barnes & Noble had conceived its Nook Simple Touch as a simple greyscale E-Ink electronic book reader, that’s not stopping developers and hackers from envisioning additional capabilities for the device. As the device runs a customized version of the Android operating system at its core, and like its color LCD counterparts in the forms […]

Google had recently filed a patent for multitouch trackpad gestures, potentially bringing new functionality to Chrome OS and the company’s Android OS. However, another potential, rather than the merely using Android on a laptop or desktop system, would be the trackpad as an application for Google’s scalability feature that comes with the next-generation Android 5.0 […]

At the CTIA trade show in San Diego, California, Sprint had a Lapdock 100 on display that’s compatible with the Webtop-enabled Motorola Photon 4G Android smartphone. The Lapdock, when connected to the Photon 4G’s micro USB and HDMI ports, brings out the Webtop environment, allowing users to experience their smartphones on a larger, laptop-like display, […]

With the latest release of the third beta of iOS 5 for developers, Apple has introduced a number of gestures aimed at possibly replacing the home button, which will take you to the home screen from any screen and also aid in multi-tasking. Found within the Assessibility menu is a new gesture control panel called […]

Dell Small Business is offering a Dell Vostro 3500 with Multitouch display for $859 after an instant $196 discount and includes free 3-5 day shipping and 1 year of next business day on site service. The Dell Vostro 3500 multitouch comes with a 2.53GHz Intel Core i5 processor with TurboBoost, 4GB DDR3 RAM, a 500GB hard drive and […]

Apple’s next-generation iPhone could utilize a touchscreen display from Hitachi Displays that will work with gloves and other insulators, meaning non-conductive surfaces, in addition to fingertips. The problem with the current generation iPhone is that it requires finger contact, and won’t work with gloves–for users in colder environments, stylus or pens, and other materials, but […]

The days of Minority Report style touch computing are here, at least for one DJ in Chile. The Token multitouch display is an enormous free-standing sheet of glass with some multi-touch wizardry apparently built in. The image is projected via a rear projector, so it’s not quite as magical as it looks at first glance. Regardless, […]

This morning I ran across an overview of 3M’s multi-touch display, which is capable of recognizing up to 20 touch inputs simultaneously. 3M apparently has more than 150 patents relating to touch displays and from the looks of the video demos they have packed more than a few into the MicroTouch M2256PW. At $1,549, you’ll probably need a […]

In news I don’t quite understand, BumpTop has been bought by Google. Not a copy of the desktop-metaphor interface software, the whole company. And if you want a copy of that software for Windows or Mac, you’d better get it now.

At $780, the DigitalRise X9 is hardly a steal compared to a netbook, yet the guys selling it have the audacity to call it “cheap” and also “The First Multi-Touch 3G Tablet PC Out of Asia!” Possibly true if you’re only counting slates, but I know Lenovo offers both in their X200 and they are […]

Microsoft Research is working on at least five multitouch mice. The Orb, Arty, Side Mouse, FTIR and Cap Mouse are each unique, implementing various tracking technologies, ergonomics and functionality.Â I’m hoping more than one of these make it out of the lab and into the accessories market. Why is Microsoft working on so many mice? […]

You may have read how I believe the upcoming Apple Tablet or CrunchPad would be an excellent tool for K-12 students. While I do believe these tablet devices could have a significant positive impact on the realm of education, I don’t plan on purchasing one for my personal use. Here’s why: What can it do […]

Behold my predictions for the great, forthcoming year of 2009. The following thoughts are what I’d like to see happen with a dash of what I believe will happen. Gaze with me into the crystal ball: Mobile Computing The term “netbook” becomes a household name because many homes have adopted one or two […]

Want to customize those gestures on your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro? Well, now you can do just that with an application called MultiClutch. MultiClutch allows you to assign keyboard gestures associated to a specific program to a gesture on the touchpad. MultiClutch works by installing a simple input manager that will catch a gesture […]

Notebook computers have changed a lot in just a few years. There are a few improvements on most consumer models that you shouldn’t live without. Here are a few things to look for in your next laptop: LED Screen An LED backlit screen uses, you guessed it, LEDs rather than something like CCFL […]

At their Professional Developers Conference next week, Microsoft will be making special developer versions of the Surface available for sale at $13,500 each, which includes 5 SDK licenses. Hmm, I wonder what the airlines will charge for that extra piece of luggage……

Engadget and a group of kids were able to put their hands on a SMART table, and put up a bunch of cool videos!. The Haines Elementary School in Chicago had one in their classroom this morning and the video was rolling to show off some of the multitouch capabilities of the table. Looks similar […]

Microsoft’s Surface team just posted a video demoing a new multi-touch app from Vectorform that allows you to virtually carve a pumpkin. Vectorform is the same team working with MSNBC and their Surface implementation. I can’t wait to see what apps get developed once folks get their hands on the Surface SDK. Video at the […]

From a technology persepctive, this election might be known as the birth of multi-touch. CNN has been using a multi-touch wall, while MSNBC.com has utilized a multi-touch Microsoft Surface table with an overhead to display what is being moved around. Two different approaches to accomplish the same thing: engage the audience with dynmically changing content […]